Electromagnetic bias in sea surface range measurements at frequencies of the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite

Range measurements made by satellite radar altimeters experience an electromagnetic (EM) bias toward the troughs of ocean waves. Measurements taken with the NASA altimeter on the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite in a series of aircraft flights during the Surface Wave Dynamics Experiment (SWADE) indicate tha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on geoscience and remote sensing 1993-03, Vol.31 (2), p.376-388
Main Authors: Hevizi, L.G., Walsh, E.J., McIntosh, R.E., Vandemark, D., Hines, D.E., Swift, R.N., Scott, J.F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
540310 - Environment, Aquatic- Basic Studies- (1990-)
580000 - Geosciences
ACCURACY
AERIAL SURVEYING
ALGORITHMS
ALTIMETERS
CORRECTIONS
DATA PROCESSING
Earth, ocean, space
Electromagnetic measurements
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
GEOSCIENCES
GRAVITY WAVES
Marine
MATHEMATICAL LOGIC
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
Microwaves
NASA
Ocean waves
OCEANIC CIRCULATION
Oceanography
Physics of the oceans
PROCESSING
Radar measurements
RADIATIONS
Radio altimeters
REMOTE SENSING
SATELLITES
Sea measurements
Sea surface
Spaceborne radar
Surface waves, tides and sea level. Seiches
Velocity measurement
WATER WAVES
Wind effects
Wind speed
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Description
Summary:Range measurements made by satellite radar altimeters experience an electromagnetic (EM) bias toward the troughs of ocean waves. Measurements taken with the NASA altimeter on the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite in a series of aircraft flights during the Surface Wave Dynamics Experiment (SWADE) indicate that EM bias is slightly higher at 5.3 GHz than at 13.6 GHz, and that the magnitudes of both biases increase with increasing wind speed, as does their difference. Tower, airborne, and satellite measurements show a consistency in the characteristics of the wind speed dependence but suggest that bias decreases with increasing altitude. The airborne measurements appear to be the most reasonable basis for correcting the NASA altimeter range data from the TOPEX/POSEIDON satellite. A preliminary analysis of data acquired at 20.3 m/s in the Southern Ocean Waves Experiment (SOWEX) has given confidence that the quadratic models for the prelaunch EM bias corrections are more appropriate for wind speed dependence than linear models.< >
ISSN:0196-2892
1558-0644
DOI:10.1109/36.214914